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AUTHOR: 


DYER,  OLIVER 


TITLE : 


CHANGES  IN  FAITH 


PLA  CE : 


PHILADELPHIA 


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[Ei«litl&  Scries.    No.  3.] 


CHANGES  IN  FAITH: 


PEOBATIOE"   AKD    JUDGMENT. 


*5 


BY  EEV.   OLIVER  DYER. 


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PHILADELPHIA: 

AMERICAN  NEW  CHURCH  TRACT  AND  FUHLICATION  SOCIKTY, 
Twenty-Second  and  Chestnut  Streets. 

E.  H.  SWINNEY,  AGENT,  No.  20  COOPER  UNION,  NEW  TOM. 


Printed  by  J.  B.  LiPPiNcorr  &  Co.,  Philndelpbia. 


TS,  A.CTS 


PUBLISHED    BY 


The  American  New  Clinrcli  Tract  M  Pnlilication  Society. 


REVISED    SERIES    OF    TRACTS. 


5- 
6. 


No. 

1.  Brief  Statement  of  the  Doctrines 

of  the  New  Church,  by  Rev.  B. 
F.  Barrett 

2.  The  Church  of  the  New  Jerusa- 

lem, by  Rev.  C.  Giles. 

3.  The  Resurrection  and  the  Spirit- 

ual World. 
4    The  Doctrine  of  Substitution,  by 
John  Hyde. 

The  Mini.>^try  of  Sorrow,  by  Rev. 
C.  Giles. 

Is  it  Unreasonable?  An  Appeal 
in  Behalf  of  the  Doctrines  of 
the  New  Church. 

The  Apparent  Contradictions  of 
the  Sacred  Scriptures  Recon- 
ciled, by  Rev.  C.  Giles. 

Death  the  Gate  of  Life 

The  Apocalyptic  Jerusalem. 

The  Life  After  Death.  From 
Swedenborg. 

What  is  Heaven  ?  From  Sweden- 
borg. 

The  Anger  of  the  Lord.  How  is 
such  Scripture  Phraseology  to 
be  Expl^^ined? 

The  Way  to  Heaven. 

The  Sacred  Scripture.  Its  own 
answer  to  the  question:  Has  it 
a  Spiritual  Sense? 

Infants  in  Heaven.  From  Swe- 
denborg. 

The  Corner-Stone. 

Concerning'lhe  Sacred  Scriptures, 
or  the  Word  of  God.  By  Em- 
anuel  Swedenborg. 


8. 
9 


ID 


II 


13 


13 
14 


15- 

16. 
17- 


No. 

18.  Popular  View  of  the  Atonement. 

19.  The  Great  Reconciliation. 

20.  Washing  our  Spiritual  Robes,  by 

Rev.  Oliver  Dyer. 

21.  Who   is    our    Neighbor?      From 

Swedenborg. 

22.  What  is  it  to  Die?    From  Sweden- 

borg. 

23.  No   Heaven   Without   Work,   by 

Rev.  C.  Giles. 

24.  Children  After  Death. 

25.  Evolution  and   Natural  Selection 

in     the     Light     of    the     New 
Church. 

26.  The  Resurrection. 

27.  The  New  Church  and  Spiritism, 

by  Kev.  C   Giles. 

28.  Judgment  and  the  World  of  Spir- 

its, by  Rev.  E.  A.  Beaman. 

29.  The  Lord's  Name  in   our  Fore- 

heads, by  Rev,  Oliver  Dyer. 

30.  Predestination,       by      Rev.      C. 

Giles. 

31.  Regeneration. 

32.  What  Must  We  Do  to  be  Saved? 

by  Rev.  C.  Giles, 

33.  Reasons  for  Embracing  the  Doc- 

trines of  the   New  Church,  by 
Rev.  Thos    A.  King. 

34.  Prayer:  the  Philosophy  of  it,  the 

Religion  of  it,  and  the  Use  of 
it.     By  Rev.  Oliver  Dyer. 

35.  Can   Murderers    be    Saved?     By 

Rev.  E.  A.  Beaman. 


When  ordered  singly,  the  price  of  these  tracts  is  2  cents  each,  without  re- 
gard to  the  number  of  pages  ;  50  copies,  75  cents  :  100  copies,  51.25.  If  ordered 
by  mail,  add  10  cents  for  every  50  copies.  For  sale  at  the  "New  Church  Book- 
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charge  from  either  Philadelphia  or  New  York. 

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CHANGES  IN  FAITH:  PROBATION  AND 

JUDGMENT. 

BY    REV.    OLIVER   DYER. 


''0/  old  hast  Thou  laid  the  foundation  of  the  earth: 
and  the  heavens  are  the  work  of  Thy  hands.  They  shall 
perish,  but  Thou  shalt  endure  :  yea,  all  of  them  shall  wax 
old  like  a  garment ;  as  a  vesture  shall  Thou  change  them, 
and  they  shall  he  changed:  hut  Thou  art  the  same,  and 
Thy  years  shall  have  no  end'' — Ps.  cii.  25-27. 

''According  to  Thy  name,  0  God,  so  is  Thy  praise  unto 
the  ends  of  the  earthy— Vs.  xlyiii.  10. 

Nothing  is  what  it  at  first  seems  to  be.  In  the  begin- 
nino;  our  senses  mislead  us  as  to  everything  in  this  world ; 
and  our  minds  and  hearts,  under  the  lead  of  our  unin- 
structed  senses,  are  misled  as  to  everything  in  the  world  to 

come. 

Our  senses  teach  us  that  the  sun  moves  through  the 
heavens  and  that  the  earth  stands  still ;  that  the  sun  and 
the  moon  are  tiny  globes ;  that  the  stars  are  mere  twink- 
ling points ;  that  the  sky  is  a  substance  which  comes  down 
to  the  earth  all  around  us ;  and  so  on,  through  all  the  phe- 
nomena of  nature.  We  in  our  childhood  believe  all  this ; 
and  the  human  race  in  its  historical  childhood  believed  it 
all  and  founded  its  whole  circle  of  beliefs  on  these  mistakes 

'  3 


> 


..-~.-'-~i«  .: 


CHANGES  IN  FAITH: 


PROBATION  AND   JUDGMENT. 


and  others  analogous  to  them,  and  so  got  going  wrong  in 
all  its  beliefs  with  regard  to  God  and  His  works,  and  man 
and  his  works,  and  the  relations  between  God  and  man,  and 
the  destiny  of  the  human  soul,  including  its  final  judgment 
and  its  life  after  judgment. 

The  physical  universe  is  substantially  the  same  to-day 
that  it  was  when  man  first  set  foot  upon  it.  But  how  dif- 
ferent are  man's  ideas  of  it  now  from  what  they  were  orig- 
inally ;  yea,  from  what  they  were  only  a  few  hundred  years 
ago !  From  age  to  age  the  ideas,  theories,  and  beliefs  of 
men  with  regard  to  the  solar  and  stellar  systems  have 
waxed  old  like  garments  and  as  vestures  have  been  changed. 
So,  too,  God  Himself  has  always  been  and  is  now  the  same 
without  variableness  or  shadow  of  turning,  but  who  can 
count  up  or  describe  the  changes  which  have  taken  place 
in  men's  ideas  of  God's  character  and  God's  works?  Ver- 
ily, like  garments  have  they  waxed  old,  and  like  vestures 
have  they  been  changed.  Well  may  the  ever-active,  omni- 
present Zeit  Geistj  or  Time  Spirit,  sing, — 

"  In  the  loud-roaring  loom  of  time  I  ply, 
And  weave  the  garment  of  God,  thou  knowcst  Him  by." 

The  garment  of  God  we  know  Him  by  1  What  is  that 
garment?  What  is  it  that  we  know  God  by?  In  other 
words,  how  do  we  know  Him,  and  what  do  we  know  of 
Him?  If  we  consider  the  matter  rationally,  we  shall  find 
that  we  have  certain  ideas  of  God, — certain  views,  notions, 
theories,  and  beliefs  about  Him  ;  that  we  clothe  Him,  so 
to  speak,  with  certain  attributes  and  invest  Him  with  cer- 
tain qualities ;  and  this  investiture  of  Him  by  us  through 
our  thoughts  and  affections  is  the  garment  of  God  we  know 
Him  by.     It  is  self-evident  that  our  ideas  of  God  are  the 


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only  ideas  we  have  of  Him  ;  that  our  notions,  views,  theo- 
ries, and  beliefs  about  Him  are  the  only  notions,  views, 
theories,  and  beliefs  that  we  have  in  regard  to  Him  ;  that 
our  understanding  of  Him,  and  of  His  nature,  character,  and 
modes  of  operation,  is  the  only  understanding  we  have  of 
Him  and  His  attributes ;  and  it  of  course  follows  that  this 
vesture  of  understanding  and  belief,  wherein  and  where- 
with we  invest  God,  is  the  garment,  and  the  only  garment 
we  know  Him  by.  And  it  is  equally  clear  that  this  gar- 
ment of  God  by  which  we  know  Him  is  constantly  chang- 
ing. "  Yea,  all  of  them  shall  wax  old  like  a  garment ;  as 
a  vesture  Thou  shalt  change  them,  and  they  shall  be 
changed." 

Our  beliefs,  which  are  woven  of  our  notions,  and 
thoughts,  and  affections,  also  constitute  our  own  mental  and 
spiritual  garments.  This  is  one  reason  why  spiritual  qual- 
ities are  so  frequently  spoken  of  in  Scripture  as  garments. 
In  Isaiah  it  is  written  that  to  those  who  mourn  in  Zion  is 
given  *'  the  garment  of  praise  for  the  spirit  of  heaviness'* 
(Ixi.  3)  ;  also,  "  For  He  hath  clothed  me  with  the  garment 
of  salvation.  He  hath  covered  me  with  the  robe  of  righte- 
ousness." In  the  seventy-third  Psalm  it  is  said  of  the 
wicked  that  "  violence  covereth  them  as  a  garment;"  and  in 
the  one  hundred  and  ninth  Psalm,  in  a  description  of  a 
wicked  man,  it  is  written,  "  He  clothed  himself  with  curs- 
ing like  as  with  a  garment."  In  stating  the  spiritual  con- 
dition of  the  Church  in  Sardis,  in  the  third  chapter  of  the 
Revelation,  it  is  said,  "  Thou  hast  a  few  names  even  in 
Sardis  which  have  not  defiled  their  garments;  and  they 
shall  walk  with  me  in  white ;  for  they  are  worthy." 

Do  you  notice  the  peculiarity  of  this  language? — 
"  Thou  hast  a  few  names  .  .  .  which  have  not  defiled  their 


*33^rv^'?«v*-«.^ir--'*?*?s 


6  CHANGES  IN  FAITH: 

garments r  What  are  the  garments  of  names?  How 
can  a  name  wear  garments  ?  Before  we  can  answer  these 
questions  we  must  know  what  a  name  actually  is.  What, 
then,  is  a  name,  in  its  essence,  and  in  its  essential  meaning? 
It  is  a  character, — is,  in  fact,  the  character  by  which  any 
one  is  known  and  distinguished.  When  we  talk  about  a 
person's  having  a  good  name,  or  a  bad  name,  in  the  com- 
munity, we  of  course  mean  that  he  has  a  good  character  or 
a  bad  character.  And  in  Scripture  name  means  character 
in  all  its  fulness  ;  it  means  the  very  essence  of  character 
and  disposition.  And  when  we  remember  that  our  mental 
and  spiritual  garments  are  woven  out  of  our  thoughts  and 
affections,  we  can  readily  understand  how  a  name  can  wear 
garments,  because  we  can  see  that  one's  character  or  dis- 
position  is  inevitably  clothed  with  the  thoughts  and  affec- 
tions which  belong  to  it,  which  harmonize  with  it,  and  nat- 
urally flow  out  of  it.  And  hence  one's  name  or  disposition 
may  have  defiled  garments, — that  is,  impure  thoughts  and 
evil  affections, — so  that  it  cannot  walk  with  the  Lord  in  the 
white  garments  of  salvation,  or  the  beautiful  garment  of 

praise. 

And  this  prepares  us  to  understand  the  meaning  of  the 
second  clause  of  the  text :  "  According  to  Thy  name,  O 
God,  so  is  Thy  praise  unto  the  ends  of  the  earth." 

Name,  we  understand,  means  character  or  disposition ; 
therefore  the  name  of  God  means  the  character  or  disposi- 
tion of  God,  which,  so  far  as  we  can  conceive  of  it,  is  sim- 
ply our  ideas,  or  views,  or  belief  with  regard  to  it.  And 
according  to  our  notions  of  God's  disposition,  so  will  be 
our  ideas  of  what  kind  of  praise  will  be  most  acceptable 
to  Him.  Praise  of  God  means  confession  and  worship 
of  God ;  and  our  worship  is  always  determined  by  what 


M 


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PROBATION  AND  JUDGMENT.  7 

we  think  and  believe  about  God's  character  and  wishes. 
Hence  we  see  how  actually  true  is  the  declaration,  "Ac- 
cording to  Thy  name,  0  God,  so  is  Thy  praise  unto  the  ends 

of  the  earth," 

*'  The  ends  of  the  earth"  is  naturally  taken  to  mean  all 
over  the  world,  and  in  one  sense  it  does  mean  that.     But 
it  has  a  much  more  important  and  a  iVir  higher  meaning. 
In  the  Scriptures,  the  earth  means  the  Church  at  large, 
and  it  also  means  the  Church  in  us  individually.     The 
Church  in  us  is  constituted  of  our  religious  ideas*  and  prin- 
ciples,—of  what  we  think  and  believe  and  love.     That  is 
the  earth  which  God  addresses  when  He  cries,  through  the 
mouth  of  His  prophet,  "  0  earth,  earth,  earth,  hear  the 
Word  of  the   Lord."     (Jer.  xxii.   29.)     Of  course  this 
globe  which  we  call  the  earth  cannot  hear  the  Word  of  the 
Lord.     The  Word  of  the  Lord  is  addressed  to  human  in- 
telligence  and  human  affection  ;   and  when  the  Word  of 
the  Lord  is  heard  aright,  it  forms  a  little  Church,  or  re- 
ligious belief  in  the  soul ;  and  that  is  the  earth,  unto  the 
ends  of  which  the  praise  of  God  is  according  to  His  name. 
For,  as  has  already  been  shown,  according  to  our  notions 
of  God's  character  and  our  ideas  of  what  He  wants,  so 
will  be  our  praise  and  worship  of  Him  clear  to  the  ends 
of  our    spiritual   earth ;    that  is  to   say,  all  through  and 
through  our  religion,  and  in  every  part  of  it,  both  as  to 
belief  and  as  to  doctrine. 

"  Of  old  hast  Thou  laid  the  foundation  of  the  earth  : 
and  the  heavens  are  the  work  of  Thy  hands."  As  we 
understand  what  the  earth  means  in  the  scriptural  sense, 
we  shall  have  no  difficulty  in  also  understanding  what  the 
heavens  mean.  The  heavens  mean  our  more  exalted  re- 
licrious  ideas  and  affections,— that  interior  belief  and  love 


8 


CHANGES   IN  FAITH: 


which  unite  us  closely  to  spiritual  and  heavenly  things. 
Of  both  this  earth  and  these  heavens  it  is  declared,  "  All 
of  them  shall  wax  old  like  a  garment ;  as  a  vesture  Thou 
shalt  change  them,  and  they  shall  be  changed :  but  Thou 
art  the  same,  and  Thy  years  shall  have  no  end." 

When  we  come  to  see  the  real  meaning  of  this  passage, 
how  grand,  how  beautiful,  how  true  it  is !  We  can  see 
for  ourselves  that  it  is  true.  We  know  that  the  ideas  and 
beliefs  and  fiiiths  of  mankind,  whether  founded  on  their 
spiritual  earth  or  in  their  spiritual  heavens,  have  been 
constantly  changing  and  are  still  undergoing  changes;  that 
they  wax  old  like  garments,  and  like  vestures  are  changed 
and  shall  be  changed ;  but  that  God  Himself,  as  He  is  in 
His  essence  and  His  substance,  endures  forever,  and  is 
always  the  same.  As  the  growth  of  scientific  and  spiritual 
knowledge  has  dispelled  the  fogs  and  darkness  of  super- 
stition from  the  human  mind,  the  rays  of  the  Sun  of 
Righteousness  have  shone  with  increased  light  and  warmth 
into  the  human  soul,  and  changed  its  whole  spiritual 
climate,  and  rendered  possible  the  development  of  spiritual 
ideas  and  affections  which  aforetime  could  no  more  have 
taken  root,  and  blossomed,  and  ripened  into  fruitage  than 
flowers  can  thrive  in  the  frozen  ground  under  the  snows 
of  winter. 

And  now,  from  this  general  consideration  of  the  uni- 
versal changes  in  human  beliefs,  I  will  pass  to  the  particu- 
lar consideration  of  changes  in  the  faith  of  the  Christian 
world  as  to  the  doctrines  of  probation  and  judgment,  and 
their  siornificauce  in  the  liiiht  of  the  New  Church. 

The  prevailing  religious  belief  of  the  present  time  is 
the  child  of  all  past  beliefs  in  all  past  times,  and  the 
offspring   shows   unmistakable   marks  of  its  parentage  in 


< 


PROBATION  AND   JUDGMENT.  9 

many  a  lineament.  Hence,  if  we  would  understand  the  re- 
ligious beliefs  of  the  past  and  the  present,  and  the  changes 
which  have  taken  place  in  them,  we  must  consider  the 
primitive  nature  of  man,  in  which  primitive  beliefs  had 
their  origin  and  from  which  present  beliefs  have  lineally 
descended. 

Whether  man  is  of  an  animal  origin,  as  scientists  teach 
us,  or  whether  he  was  created  in  a  high  state  of  perfection 
from  which  he  fell  to  a  state  of  beastly  degradation,  as 
religionists  teach  us,  it  is  certain  that  when  he  emerged 
from  the  vague  realms  that  lie  beyond  our  ken  and  crossed 
the  historical  horizon  his  mental,  moral,  and  spiritual 
state  was  as  low  as  it  could  be  and  yet  leave  him  human; 
low  enough,  in  fact,  to  justify  Swedenborg's  declaration 
that  he  is  "'  more  vile  than  any  living  creature  amongst  all 
the  wild  beasts  and  beasts."  And  down  there,  in  that  low 
state  in  which  both  scientists  and  religionists  place  man, 
the  seed-germ  of  nearly  all  the  religious  doctrines  in  the 
world  was  sown,  and  that  seed-germ  was  the  idea  which 
those  primitive  people  had  of  God  ;  for,  as  has  been  shown, 
a  people's  ideas  of  God  shape  and  govern  all  their  religious 
doctrines.  "  According  to  Thy  name,  0  God,  so  is  Thy 
praise  unto  the  ends  of  the  earth." 

In  Exodus  it  is  written :  *'  And  I  appeared  unto  Abra- 
ham, and  unto  Isaac,  and  unto  Jacob,  by  the  name  of  God 
Almighty,  but  by  ray  name  Jehovah  was  I  not  knowu 
unto  them"  (vi.  2) ;  which  may  be  literally  rendered :  "  I 
appeared  unto  Abraham,  and  Isaac,  and  Jacob,  as  God  the 
Thunderer,  but  my  name  Jehovah  did  I  not  make  them  to 
know." 

In  those  far  distant  and  wretched  times,  when  our  ances- 
tors were  so  ignorant  of  scienpe  that  nearly  every  phenome- 


a 


10 


CHANGES  IN   FAITH: 


PROBATION  AND  JUDGMENT. 


11 


Don  of  nature  overwhelmed  them  with  terror,  the  Lord 
appeared  to  them  only  as  God  the  Thunderer,  God  the 
Terrible,  God  the  Smiter,  God  the  Destroyer.  The  earth- 
quake,  the  storm,  the  lightning,  the  thunder,  in  short, 
every  manifestation  of  power  which  they  could  not  under- 
stand, was  to  them  an  act  of  a  supernatural  Beiug,  a  terri- 
ble Deity,  a  God  the  Thunderer,  who  must  be  propitiated 
by  prayer,  by  sacrifices,  by  acceptable  offerings  of  some 
kind.  And  right  here  we  have  the  seed-germ,  the  funda- 
mental idea  of  about  all  the  theology  there  was  in  the 
world  prior  to  Swedenborg.  And  that  seed-germ,  that 
fundamental  idea  is,  that  there  is  a  Deity  who  has  been 
pers^onally  offended^  and  must  he  personally  appeased^  or 
else  He  will  have  personal  vengeance.  This  doctrine  begins 
in  the  lowest  forms  of  fetichism,  runs  up  through  all  forms 
of  polytheism,  pervades  Jewish  monotheism,  crystallizes  in 
Christian  trinitarianism,  and  is  to-day  the  predominant 
belief  of  the  Christian  world,  and  gives  shape  and  tone  and 
quality  to  every  one  of  what  are  called  the  orthodox  doc- 
trines of  Christendom,  and  to  a  majority  of  all  the  other 
religious  doctrines  The  orthodox  doctrine  of  the  atone- 
ment, with  its  correlative  doctrines  of  probation  and  judg- 
ment, is  nothing  but  the  elaborate,  consummate,  perfected 
blossoming  of  that  old  fetich  and  heathen  idea  of  person- 
ally appeasing  a  personally  offended  Deity,  so  as  to  escape 
His  personal  vengeance,  by  paying  Him  His  price,  and  thus 
buying  Him  off. 

The  universality  of  this  primitive  and  ingrained  notion 
is  only  equalled  by  its  depth  and  tenacity.  Even  science 
does  not  enable  us  to  throw  it  off,  any  more  than  science 
enables  us  to  get  rid  of  the  desire  to  see  the  new  moon 
over  our  right  shoulder.     We  know,  just  as  well  as  it  is 


possible  to  know  anything,  that  it  makes  no  difference  over 
which  shoulder  we  first  see  the  new  moon,  and  yet  we 
always  want  to  see  it  first  over  our  right  shoulder,  because 
we  cannot  get  rid  of  that  old  fetichistic  inheritance;  nor 
can  we  get  rid  of  the  inherited  instinct  with  regard  to  the 
fetich  God,  which  has  come  down  to  us  through  the  very 
marrow,  and  heart's  blood,  and  brain  convolutions  of  our 
progenitors  through   thousands  upon    thousands  of  ages, 
and  is  so  bred  in  the  bone  that  it  will  come  out  in  the 
flesh.     Hence  it  is  that  everybody,  savage  or  scientist, 
religionist  or  atheist,  Puritan  or  pirate,  when  suddenly  con- 
fronted with  terrifying  danger,  and  so  shoi!ked  out  of  his 
artificial  state  as  to  be  kt  down  into  his  inherited  instincts, 
instinctively  appeals  to  God  the  Thunderer  for  protection 
and  mercy,  and  seeks  to  propitiate  Him  with  all  manner 
of  promises  extorted  from  his  not  penitent,  but  affrighted, 

soul. 

This  fetich  idea  of  a  God  who  is  supposed  to  be  ferocious 
and  vindictive  has  pervaded  all  the  affairs  of  this  world  as 
well  as  those  of  the  next.     From  the  very  beginning,  if 
any  disaster  happened  to  man  or  to  his  possessions  it  was 
believed  to  be  the  vengeful  work  of  some  god.     If  a  per- 
son dropped  dead,  it  was  believed  that  a  god  killed  him. 
If  a  man  was  struck  by  lightning,  it  was  believed  that  a 
god  hurled  the  thunder- bolt  at  him,  and  so  on  through  all 
the  casualties  of  nature.    Do  we  not  know  that  these  fetich 
notions  now  form  the  substratum  of  the  religious  belief  of 
Christendom?     The   only    difference   is    that   Christians, 
instead  of  believing  that  a  fetich  god,  or  a  heathen  god, 
does  all  these  things,  believe  that  the  Christian's  God  does 
them.    "  According  to  Thy  name,  0  God,  so  is  Thy  praise 
unto  the  ends  of  the  earth." 


"J£ 


vT 


>' 


12 


CHANGES  IN  FAITH: 


PROBATION  AND   JUDGMENT. 


13 


It  is  true  that  among  intelligent  people  these  fetich  no- 
tions are  passing  away  so  far  as  natural  or  scientific  affairs 
are  concerned,  but  they  still  clutch  religious  beliefs  right 
by  the  throat  with  an  almost  throttling  grasp.  Every- 
thing in  this  world  is  seen  to  be  under  the  rule  of  law  ; 
but  the  affairs  of  the  next  world  are  by  many  otherwise 
rational  people  still  supposed  to  be  at  the  mercy  of  a  ca- 
pricious God  who  can  do  as  He  pleases,  without  regard  to 
law.  It  is  believed  that  if  God  chooses  to  give  human 
souls  a  probation  of  myriads  of  ages.  He  can  do  it ;  that 
if  He  chooses  to  cut  them  off  from  all  probation,  He  can 
do  it ;  that  if  He  chooses  to  send  the  whole  human  race 
to  hell.  He  can  do  it ;  that  if  He  chooses  to  send  the 
whole  human  race  to  heaven,  He  can  do  it;  that  if  He 
chooses  to  send  certain  souls  to  hell  and  certain  other  souls 
to  heaven,  He  can  do  it ;  and  it  is  believed  that  He  can  do 
all  this  at  His  own  whim,  His  own  caprice,  His  own  preju- 
dice, His  own  resentment,  or,  as  it  is  theologically  put,  ^'  at 
His  own  good  will  and  pleasure."  So  long  as  people  believe 
that  God  can  do  all  these  things  without  regard  to  law, 
they  will  also  believe  that  God  tvill  do  such  of  them  as 
they  would  prefer  to  have  Him  do ;  and  so,  as  a  matter  of 
course,  it  was  impossible  for  Christendom  not  to  have  just 
such  conflicting,  irrational,  ferocious,  horrible  doctrines  of 
probation  and  judgment  as  have  prevailed  in  the  world 
from  the  organization  of  the  Christian  Church  until  now. 

A  belief  in  the  everlasting  physical  punishment  of  the 
re-embodied  damned,  and  that  probation  ends  with  this 
life,  became  general  at  an  early  stage  of  Christian  history. 
But  after  a  time  some  theologians  began  to  think  that 
human  beings  ought  to  have  a  chance  for  probation  in  the 
world  to  come ;  and  it  being  seen  that  this  idea,  if  for- 


<l 


V 


mulated  into  a  doctrine,  could  be  made  exceedingly  profit- 
able, it  was  oflficially  adopted  as  a  dogma  of  the  Church, 
and  purgatory  became  established  on  a  sound  business 
basis,  and  holds  its  own  to  this  day,  and  is  perhaps  the 
most  pecuniarily  profitable  doctrine  known  to  Christendom, 

Another  doctrine  which  was  early  made  a  dogma  of  the 
Church  was  what  is  known  as  the  doctrine  of  exclusive 
salvation  ;  which  means  that  only  members  of  the  Church 
and  their  baptized  children  are  saved,  and  that  all  others 
are  assuredly  damned.  There  were  always  dissenters  from 
these  doctrines,  but  they  were  oflBcial  doctrines  of  the 
Church  and  held  predominant  sway  until  the  Reformation. 
After  Protestantism  had  become  established  it  threw  purga- 
tory overboard,  and  contracted  the  doctrine  of  exclusive 
salvation  into  the  doctrine  of  election,  the  formulators  of 
which  believed  not  only  in  exclusive  salvation,  but  in  a 
very  exclusive  set  of  the  exclusively  saved,  and  placidly 
consigned  infants  "only  a  span  long"  to  everlasting  torment. 
Such  a  horrible  doctrine,  however  bolstered  up  and  but- 
tressed round  with  theological  sophistries,  could  not  fail  to 
revolt  the  hearts  of  men,  and  so  there  arose  various  modi- 
fications of  it,  which  I  will  not  attempt  to  name,  as  they 
are  too  numerous  to  mention  in  a  brief  discourse.  In  some 
cases  Protestants  rejected  the  doctrine  of  election  altogether, 
and  also  the  doctrine  of  exclusive  salvation,  and  broke  out 
into  Socinianism  and  other  forms  of  Universalism. 

Universalism  has  become  so  prominent  in  the  United 
States  that  it  is  vaguely  looked  upon  as  an  American  in- 
stitution, but,  in  fact,  it  is  many  centuries  old.  It  was 
condemned  by  a  Church  Council  at  Constantinople  in 
the  year  544,  and  since  then  there  has  hardly  ever  been 
a  time  when  it  has  not  had  advocates  in  the  Christian 


<v 


V' 


14 


CHANGES  IN  FAITH: 


PROBATION  AND   JUDGMENT. 


15 


world.  The  horror  and  detestation  excited  by  the  doc- 
trines of  exclusive  salvation,  election,  and  infant  damnation 
caused  many  Chri.-tian  people  to  take  the  ground  that  there 
is  no  hell  at  all,  and  that  everybody  at  death  is  changed 
into  a  glorified  creature  and  taken  into  heaven  at  once 
through  the  infinite  mercy  of  God.  But  the  views  of  this 
class  of  Uuiversalists  have  undergone  modifications.  Their 
present  position,  as  contrasted  with  their  former  attitude, 
is  stated  to  be  something  like  this:  that  whereas  they 
used  to  stand  at  the  front  gate  of  hell  and  say,  "  Nobody 
shall  go  in,"  tliey  now  stand  at  the  back  gate  and  say, 
"  Everyhodi/  may  go  out." 

Some  of  the  modifications  of  beliefs  now  going  on  can 
hardly  be  called  changes  of  faith.  They  are  simply  a 
breaking  down  of  old  dogmatic  doctrines  without  any  new 
faith  coming  in  to  take  the  place  of  the  old.  There  are 
many  Calvinists  belonging  to  various  denominations  of  that 
school  of  theology  who  have  become  so  intelligent  they 
cannot  stand  the  orthodox  doctrines  of  probation  and  judg- 
ment, but  have  not  arrived  at  fixed  views  on  these  subjects, 
who  say,  "  We  do  not  know  what  God  in  His  infinite 
councils  has  determined  as  to  these  things,  but  we  are 
willing  to  trust  in  His  mercy,  and  await  the  developments 
of  the  future  life;"  which  seemingly  pious  and  actually 
agnostic  creed  is  just  now  becoming  somewhat  popular  as 
a  phase  of  what  is  called  "  the  new  theology." 

In  truth,  nearly  all  the  beliefs  of  the  Protestant  and 
iudependent  portion  of  the  Christian  world  as  to  probation 
and  judgment  are  becoming  unsettled, — the  only  steady 
thing  about  them  being  the  steady  change  which  they  are 
undergoing.  Even  the  Old  School  Presbyterians  in  Eng- 
land are  calling  for  a  readjustment  of  their  confession  of 


7 


i 


faith  and  for  a  modification  of  the  teachings  of  their  cate- 
chisms.    And  in  this  country  these  ironclad  Calvinists  are 
now  exhibiting  what  seems  to  me  to  be  one  of  the  most 
singular  and  interesting  theological  phenomenons  of  the 
age.     In  their  struggles  to  save  the  doctrine  of  election 
from   the  relentless  disintegrations  of  scientific   criticism 
and  spiritual  rationalism,  they  are  actually  calling  on  Dar- 
win for  help, — Darwin,  who  for  many  years  has  been  the 
great  scientific  bugaboo   of  orthodox    Christianity.      The 
last  utterance  from  them  on  the  subject,  which  has  come 
under  my  notice,  was  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Rankin,  of  Wash- 
ing-ton, who  intimates  that  Darwin's  doctrine  of  natural 
selection  and  the  survival  of  the  fittest  is  the  physical  and 
scientific  counterpart  of  their  doctrine  of  predestination 
and  the  salvation  of  the  elect.     The  doctrine  of  natural 
selection  is  briefly  this:    That  in  a  state  of  nature  the 
strongest  and  best-conditioned  creatures  rule  and  are  at- 
tracted to  one  another,  and  so  survive  and  perpetuate  them- 
selves through  their  ofi*spring,  because  they  are  the  fittest 
to  do  so ;  while  the  weaker  are  thrust  aside,  and  left  to 
perish,  and  so  do  not  survive  nor  perpetuate  themselves, 
because  they  are  not  fit  to  do  so.     The  doctrines  of  election 
and  predestination  assert  that  God,  in  accordance  with  His 
own  good  will  and  pleasure,  fore-ordained  that  certain  souls 
should  be  saved ;  that  is  to  say.  He  elects  or  selects  certain 
ones  to  be  saved  and  leaves  all  the  others  to  be  damned. 
The  Rev.  Dr.  Rankin*  asks  :  '*  What  is  the  ssrvival  of  the 
fittest  but  the  doctrine  of  election  in  animal  life?"  which 
of  course  implies  that  the  essence  of  the  doctrine  of  election 
is  the  application  of  the  Darwinian  theory  of  the  survival 
of  the  fittest  to  spiritual   life.     It  is   a  common  saying 

«  See  the  Christian  Union  of  May  3,  1883,  page  358. 


V> 


iL 


16 


CHANGES  IN  FAITH: 


PROBATION  AND   JUDGMENT. 


17 


that   politics  makes  strange  bedfellows;    but  can  politics 
show  anything  in  its  dormitories  to  equal  this?     Verily, 
when  Calvinists  are  found  snuggling  up  to  Darwinians  in 
the  same  trundle-bed,  with  their  innocent  faces   peeping 
out  from  under  the  same  blanket,  the  spectacle  is  one  to  pro- 
voke the  strenuous  curiosity  of  gods  and  men  as  to  how  the 
doctrine  of  the  survival  of  the  fittest  will  work  in  their  case. 
These  changes  of  faith  in  the  Christian  world  as  to  the 
doctrines  of  probation  and  judgment  come  from  the  fact 
that  the  predominant  idea  of  Christians  as  to  the  character 
of  God  is  the  old  fetich  and  heathen  idea,  which  is  a  rad- 
ically wrong  idea ;  and  there  is  no  possible  way  of  getting 
their  doctrines  of  probation  and  judgment  right,  except  by 
first  setting  their  ideas  of  God  right,  so  that  they  shall 
have  a  correct  doctrine  of  the  Lord.     And  where  are  they 
to  get  such  a  doctrine?     So  far  as  I  know,  they  must  look 
for  it  in  the  Writings  of  the  New  Church.     We  are  there 
taught  rationally,  what  the  Scriptures  teach  inspirationalfy, 
that  God  is  a  Being  of  infinite  divine  order  and  law,  the 
same  yesterday,  to-day,  and  forever,  without  variableness  or 
shadow  of  turning,  and  not  a  fetich  or  heathen  God  of 
caprice,  who  can  do  as  He  pleases  without  regard  to  law. 
Some  theologians  seem  to  think,  and  the  logical  outcome  of 
their  doctrines  is,  that  if  God  should  choose  to  do  so  He 
could  issue  a  new  Decalogue,  saying  thou  shalt  steal ;  thou 
shalt  commit  adultery  ;  thou  shalt  murder ;  thou  shalt  bear 
false  witness  against  thy  neighbor;    thou  shalt   covet  all 
that  is  thy  neiglibor's ;  and  so  on,  and  make  such  com- 
mandments  the  laws  of  life.     Such    theologians  have  no 
conception  of  the  great  truth  that  the  commandments  as 
they  now  stand  are  the  indestructible  laws  of  life,  which 
cannot  change  nor  be  changed. 


I 


Our  Writings  also  teach  that  the  government  of  God,  being 
an  outcome  of  Himself,  partakes  of  His  own  unchangeable 
nature,  and  is  therefore  a  government  of  infinite  divine  order 
and  immutable  law,  in  the  world  to  come  as  well  as  in  this 
world.     The  character  of  the  Lord  and  the  nature  of  His 
government  being  settled,  the  nature  and  method  of  proba- 
tion and  judgment  are  also  settled.     With  such  a  God  and 
such  a  government  the  final  judgment  which  we  are  every 
one  to  meet,  of  course  comes  to  pass  under  the  operation 
of  eternal  laws  of  divine  order  and  harmony ;  and  is  not  a 
dramatic  spectacle  enacted  before  an  assembled  universe, 
but  a  process,  an  evolution,  the  completion  of  a  cycle  of 
being  in  the  individual  soul,  which  comes  to  its  final  issue 
through  a  probation  which  is  simply  an  orderly  period  or 
stage  in  the  evolution  itself.      The  laws  of  divine  order 
and  harmony,  the  indefeasible  laws  of  life,  by  virtue  of 
which  this  judgment  thus  comes  to  pass,  are  the  command- 
ments of  God.     Whoever  lives  in  accordance  with  them 
comes  at  least  into  a  preparation  for  a  heavenly  state  of 
heart  and  mind  in  this  world,  and  reaches  heaven  in  the 
world  to  come.     Hence  it  is  written,  "  Blessed  are  they 
that  do  His*commandments,  that  they  may  have  right  to  the 
tree  of  life,  and  may  enter  in  through  the  gates  into  the 
city."    (Bev.  xxii.  14.) 

Do  you  take  in  the  significance  of  that  language? — 
"  That  they  may  have  right  to  the  tree  of  life."  Whoever 
lives  in  accordance  with  the  commandments  of  God  hath 
right  to  the  tree  of  life ;  and  of  that  right,  which  is  guar- 
anteed by  the  laws  of  eternal  life,  no  power  in  the  uni- 
verse can  defraud  him.  "  He  enters  in  through  the  gates 
into  the  city"  by  virtue  of  the  operation  of  the  divine  laws 
which  carry  him  there. 


sM 


.1 


18 


CHANGES  IN   FAITH: 


PROBATION  AND   JUDGMENT. 


19 


On  the  other  hand,  whosoever  lives  in  habitual  violation 
of  the  commandments  has  no  right  to  the  tree  of  life,  sim- 
ply because  he  has  not  lived  in  accordance  with  the  laws  of 
life  and  has,  therefore,  become  spiritually  dead  ;  and  the 
same  divine  laws  that  take  the  one  to  heaven  because  he 
belongs  there,  carry  the  other  to  hell  because  he  belongs 
there ;  and  one's  spiritual  state  being  such  when  he  comes 
to  his  final  iudijrment  that  he  belonirs  in  hell,  there  is  no 
power  in  the  universe  which  can  save  him  from  hell.  And 
he  goes  to  hell  not  as  a  puni.shment  inflicted  by  a  person- 
ally offended  God,  but  as  the  merciful  provision  of  an  all- 
loving  Father  (A.  C.  587),  who  knows  that  hell  is  the  best 
place  for  his  poor,  erring  child,  because  he  will  be  less  mis- 
erable there,  where  he  belongs,  than  he  would  be  anywhere 
else  where  he  did  not  belong. 

It  is  an  old  adaiie  that  as  a  man  makes  his  bed  so  he 
must  lie.  It  is  equally  true  that  where  a  man  makes  his 
bed  there  he  must  lie.  So  when  a  poor,  sin-sick  soul 
"makes  his  bed  in  hell"  (Ps.  cxxxix.  8),  he  must  lie  in  it 
there  ;  but  he  finds  the  Great  Physician  by  that  woful  bed- 
side, ready  to  do  all  that  can  be  done  in  accordance  with 
the  unchangeable  laws  of  life,  to  assuage  the  sufferer's  an- 
guish. Yea,  "  the  Lord  will  strengthen  him  upon  the  bed 
of  lan<]:uishin2: ;  Thou  wilt  make  all  his  bed  in  his  sickness." 
(Ps.  xli.  3.) 

It  must  be  plain  to  the  apprehension  of  us  all  that  the 
old  beliefs  are  undergoing  changes  because  they  are  founded 
on  appearances  of  truth,  instead  of  on  truth  itself  A  re- 
ligious doctrine,  in  order  to  stand  forever  unchanged,  must 
be  founded  on  absolute  truth, — truth  that  will  harmonize 
with  science  as  well  as  with  Scripture ;  and  if  it  does  not 
harmonize  with  both  science  and  Scripture  it  ia  foredoomed 


■  v 


V- 


to  destruction,  and  must  go  the  way  in  which  the  once  pop- 
ular doctrines  of  the  resurrection  of  the  body,  and  the 
everlasting  physical  punishment  of  the  re-embodied  damned 
have  gone.  Science  is  the  unrelenting  and  irresistible  foe 
of  every  false  doctrine,  and  will  eventually  hunt  out  and 
expose  its  untenableness ;  and  as  the  doctrines  of  the  New 
Church  are  the  only  religious  doctrines  that  are  based  on 
scientific  and  rational  principles,  they  are  the  only  ones 
which  will  survive  the  developments  of  science. 

Whoever  is  familiar  with    the    doctrines  of  the  New 
Church,   and    observes    the    changes   in    the  faith  of  the 
Christian  world,  cannot  very  well  help  seeing  that  these 
changes   are  slowly  drifting   the   Christian   world  in   our 
direction  ;    and    here    is  where    the  significance  of  these 
chances  in   the  lidit  of  the  New  Church  becomes  most 
clearly  visible.     You  will  remember  that  when  Dr.  Kane 
attempted  to  travel  towards  the  north  pole  over  an  ice- 
field, he  found,  after  struggling  along  for  several  days,  that 
the  whole  ice-field  had  drifted  farther  south  by  east  tlum 
he  had  travelled  north  by  west,  so  that  he  was  in  a  lower 
latitude  than  when  he  started.     That  is  typical  of  what 
is  going  on  in  spiritual  affairs.     The  theologians  are  strug- 
dint»-  along  over  theological  ice-fields  to  reach   a  higher 
doctrinal  latitude,  but  the  great,  silent,  spiritual  drift  is 
taking  them  south  by  east.     Oh,  how  much  that  means  to 
a  New  Churchman  !     In  scriptural  symbolism  and  corre- 
spondence the  south  represents  a  state  of  most  refulgent 
spiritual  light,  and  the  east  a  state  of  purest  love  to  God 
and  the  neighbor ;  and  it  is  towards  these  spiritual  states 
that  the   great  spiritual  under-currents  are   carrying  all, 
except  the  few  who  are  consciously  steering  in  that  direc- 
tion.    And  they  are  all  drifting  thither  because  the  hearts 


ik-fl'-KS 


20 


CHANGES  IN  FAITH. 


and  minds  of  men — the  currents  of  human  thought  and 
human  affection,  operated  upon  by  the  silent,  unnoticed,  but 
constant  descent  of  the  New  Jerusalem  from  God  out  of 
heaven,  are  moved  in  that  direction  ;  and  also  because  the 
intelligence  of  spiritual  men  is  more  and  more  perceiving 
that  it  is  only  by  the  application  of  New-Church  doctrines 
to  religious  affairs  that  the  destructive  criticisms  of  hostile 
but  conscientious  scientists  and  atheists  can  be  successfully 
resisted ;  and  also  because  these  doctrines  practically  help 
human  beings  to  overcome  their  evils  and  grow  pure  in 
heart  so  as  to  see  God  as  He  really  is,  not  as  God  the 
Thunderer,  but  as  the  Lord  Jehovah,  as  He  is  revealed  in 
Jesus  Christ;  and,  finally,  because  these  doctrines  shed  a 
steady,  serene,  and  satisfying  light  upon  the  once  dark  and 
forbidding  regions  beyond  the  grave,  and  throw  a  bridge 
of  faith  and  love  over  the  river  of  death,  and  set  it  thick 
with  angel  guards,  and  render  the  passage  of  the  freed, 
regenerating  soul  a  triumphal  march  along  the  divine  high- 
way cast  up  for  the  redeemed  of  the  Lord  to  walk  upon. 


\ 


>- 


THE  FAITH  OF  THE  NEW  CHURCH. 


1  Concerning  the  Lord.  There  is  one,  and  only  one,  self- 
existing  Being  who  is  love  and  wisdom,  and  from  whom  con- 
stantly proceed  all  substance,  power,  and  life. 

2  The  Unity  of  the  Lord.  The  Lord  is  one  Being  in  one 
Divine  Person,  as  man  is  one  being  in  one  human  person,  and 
that  Divine  Person  is  the  Lord  God  and  Saviour  Jesus  Christ. 

3.  The  Trinity  of  the  Lord.  There  is  a  Trinity  of  Father, 
Son  and  Holy  Spirit  in  the  person  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 
The  Father,  or  Jehovah,  is  the  Divine  in  itself;  the  Son  is  the 
Divine  Human  in  which  Jehovah  was  incarnated ;  the  Holy 
Spirit  is  the  Divine  power  proceeding  into  creative  act.  The 
Father  is  in  the  Son  as  man's  soul  is  in  his  body ;  the  Holy 
Spirit  proceeds  from  the  Father  by  the  Son,  as  man's  power 
proceeds  into  act,  from  his  soul  by  means  of  his  body.  The 
Divine  Trinity  in  the  Lord  is  of  the  same  nature  as  the  finite 
trinity  in  man.  The  Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Spirit  are  one 
Lord  in  one  Person,  as  the  soul,  the  body,  and  the  life  are 
one  man. 

4  Concerning  Man.  Man  is  a  spiritual  being  in  the  human 
form,  clothed  >vith  a  material  body.  He  has  no  life  in  himself, 
bein.'  only  a  form  organized  to  receive  life  from  the  Lord. 
He  vvas  made  in  the  image  of  God  that  the  Divine  attributes 
mi.-ht  be  ftnitod  in  him,  and  that  he  might  be  conjoined  to  the 
L  .rd  by  a  constant  reception  and  reciprocation  of  His  love 
and  wisdom. 

5  The  Death  of  Man.  As  man  is  a  spiritual  being  he  was 
made  to  dwell  in  a  spiritual  world.  The  death  of  the  material 
body  is,  therefore,  a  necessary  and  orderly  step  in  life,     The 


'*< 


deatli  of  the  soul  is  caused  bv  sin  which  is  a  violation  of  the 
Divine  laws  organized  in  man's  spiritual  faculties.  It  con- 
sists in  such  a  perversion  of  their  form  and  order  that  man's 
power  of  receiving  love  and  wisdom  from  the  Lord  is  de- 
stroyed.    He  dies  hy  the  excUision  of  life. 

6.  The  Resurrection  of  Man.  The  resurrection  of  man 
from  natural  death  is  his  withdrawal  from  the  material  body. 
His  resurrection  from  spiritual  death  is  his  restoration  tc 
spiritual  life.  It  consists  in  his  regeneration,  which  is  effected 
by  the  Lord  ah)no,  while  man  co-operates  by  living  according 
to  the  commandments, 

7.  The  Salvation  of  Man.  Salvation  consists  in  redeeming 
man  from  the  power,  and  saving  him  from  the  deatli,  of  sin. 
To  effect  this  work  Jehovah  became  incarnate  and  revealed 
himself  in  a  form  which  man,  though  dead  in  sin,  could 
recognize.  The  human  nature  which  Jehovah  assumed  be- 
came the  medium  t>f  conjunction  and  communication  between 
Him  and  man.  By  means  of  it  His  Divine  power  can  operate 
upon  man  to  redeem  and  save  him  from  sin. 

8.  The  Sacred  Scriptures.  The  Sacred  Scriptures  are 
Divine  Truth  clothed  in  human  language.  They  are  the 
Word  of  the  Lord,  who  gave  them  to  man  to  reveal  Himself 
to  him;  to  teach  him  the  laws  of  his  own  spiritual  nature; 
the  effects  of  breaking  them,  and  the  blessings  of  keeping 
them.  They  are  written  according  to  the  correspondence 
between  natural  and  spiritual  things.  Every  word  contains 
a  spiritual  sense,  the  key  to  which  was  given  to  Swedenborg 
by  the  Lord  By  means  of  this  key  the  spiritual  and  Divine 
truths  contained  in  the  letter  are  revealed ;  and  by  these 
truths  the  Lord  effects  His  Second  Coming. 


1 


r 


t 


> 


/ 


THEOLOGICAL  WORKS 


OP 


EMANUEL  SWEDENBORG. 


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Arcana  Celestia.    10  Vols. 
Apocalypse  Bevealed.    2  Vols. 
True  Christian  Religion  .... 
Divine  Love  and  Wisdom 
Divine  Providence  •      •   .  • 

Conjugial  Love 

Heaven  and  Hell 

Four  Leading  Doctrines  • 
Miscellaneous  Theological  Works     . 


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TI^  A.OTS 

PUBLISHED   BY 

Tie  American  New  CMrcli  Tract  aiiil  PnWication  Society. 

SERMONS  AND  DOCTRINAL  LECTURES. 

By  Rev.  Chauncey  Giles. 
The  following  Sermons   and   Doctrinal    Lectures  bv  Rev.  Chauncey  Giles 
have  been  issued  in  tract  form  by  the  American  New  Church  Tract  and  Pub- 
lication Society.     'J'hey  are  neatly  printed  on  fine  paper,  and  are  alike  in  style 
and  appearance,  the  number  of  pages  varying  from  16  to  24. 


DOCTRINAL 

No.  I 

1.  Who  Was  Jesus  Christ? 

2.  How  Does  the  Lord  Save  Men? 

3.  The  Sufferings  and  Death  of  Jesus 

Christ. 

4.  The  Saving  Efficacy  of  the  Lord's 

Blood. 

5.  The  Punishment  of  Sin. 

6.  The  Forgiveness  of  Sin. 

7.  Purification  from   Sin  Illustrated 

by   the    Refining   of  Gold   and 
Sdrer 

8.  The  New  and  Old  Atonement. 

9.  Union  with  the  Lord:  Its  Nature, 
Means,  and  Blessedness. 

The  Spiritual  Wa^ts  of  the  Age. 
The  True  Idea  of  God. 
The  True  Idea  of  Man. 


10. 
II. 
12. 


LECTURES. 

No. 

1^.   The  Spiritual  World. 

The  World  of  Spirits,  or  Interme- 
diate State. 

The  World  of  Spirits  the  Place  of 
Man's  Final  Judgment. 

The  World  of  Spirits  as  a  Place 
(or  State)  of  Instruction  and 
Preparation  for'Heaven. 

Hell:   Its  Origin  and  Nature. 

18.  The  Sufferings  of  the  Wicked. 

19.  The  Sufferings  of  the  Wicked.  Are 
they  Et«»rnal? 

Heaven  :    What  it  is.     Where  and 

How  Formed. 
The  Happiness  of  Heaven. 
Heavenly     Happiness  :     Endless 

and  Ever  Increasing. 


14 

16 
17 


20. 

21, 
22. 


No. 

X. 

2. 


SERMONS. 


4- 
5- 
6. 

7- 

8. 

9- 
10. 

rt. 
12. 

13- 


The  Light  of  the  World. 

The     Elements    of    a    Heavenly 
Character. 

Love :    The    Light    and    Joy   of 
Life. 

Onyx  Stones  ;  or, The  Book  of  Life. 

The  Widow's  Pot  of  Oil. 

The  Coming  of  the  New  Age. 

Rest  for  the   Weary  and  Heavy 
Laden 

The  Ministry  of  Fear. 

What  is  Evangelical  Religion? 

The  Conquest  over  Evil  by  Little 
and  Little. 

Modern  Unbelief:  Its  Cause,  Na- 
ture, and  Remedy. 

The  Resurrection  of  the  Lord. 

The  Laws  of  Ascent  from  a  Nat- 
ural 10  a  Heavenly  Life. 


No. 

14.  Unity  Among  Brethren:  Its  Ori- 
gin, Means,  and  Effects. 

15.  The  Doctrines  of  the  New  Church, 
the  Measure  of  a  Man. 

16.  The  Death  of  the  Body  a  Ministry 
of  Life  to  the  Soul. 

17.  The    Divine    Providence   in  Na- 
tional Affairs. 

18.  Efficacious    Prayer:  The  Condi- 
tions on  which  it  is  Answered. 

19.  The  Nature  and  Use  of  Prayer. 

20.  Love  to  the  Lord.     What  it  is  and 
how  manifested. 

21.  The  Church  of  the  Future. 

22.  The  Law  of  Heavenly  Reward. 

23.  Man's  Immeasurable  Capacity  to 
Love,  to  Know,  and  to  Enjoy. 

24.  The  Incarnation:    Its  Necessity, 
Nature,  and  Effects. 

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